Rohingya Consultation Meeting

The International Consortium for Rohingya (ICR)

To set up a consortium to address the humanitarian relief of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Burma and elsewhere.

The consortium will be known as the “International Consortium for Rohingya” (ICR).

The term of the consortium shall be for two years and will be reviewed accordingly.

The management committee of the consortium will comprise 7 of the member organisations and the management committee will include others accordingly

Turkey – UNIW
Pakistan Alkhidmat Foundation
Malaysia – FIMA
Bangladesh – Islamic Aid
Indonesia – PKPU
USA – helping hand (HHRD)
Canada – ICNA Relief

The headquarters of the management committee will be based in Istanbul, Turkey.

The management committee will review the progress of cluster projects every 4 months

The administrative expenses (office management and logistics for meetings) of the management committee at Istanbul will be provided by the member organisations through a one-year annual fee.

A coordination and logistics office will be set up in Bangladesh to facilitate the relief efforts.

The operations of the consortium will be undertaken in clusters according to the prioritized needs.

Seven (7) clusters of operations have been identified. They are:

Advocacy
Food and nutrition
Shelter
Wash – water sanitation & hygiene
Medical and healthcare
Education & capacity building
Welfare and protection of women & children

Each cluster group will be led by a lead member organisation assisted by 3-4 partners who will assist in the implemetation and the sourcing of funds.

The group lead and implementation partners will be responsible for the smooth and effective execution of their projects and report to the management committee every 4 months.

Member organisations are encouraged to sign mou to formalise the contributions of their various projects

The outcome of this consultation will be circulated to other ngos to seek their cooperation & active involvement.

JOINT DECLARATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR ROHINGYA (ICR)

The Rohingya Muslims, who comprise 5% of the population in Burma, are the innocent victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The UN Human Rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that “the situation seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Despite constituting a considerable percentage of the Burmese population, they are deprived of citizenship, let alone to live as Muslims and raise their children according to the rules of Islam.

They do not possess any weapons, yet they are attacked by soldiers equipped with fatal weapons employing disproportionate force. Unfortunately, children, girls, mothers, women, the old and infirmed are not spared of this inhuman massacre.

The Rohingyas have been deprived of their basic human rights and freedom which is enshrined in the “Universal Human Rights Declaration” signed by all UN member states.

We, the participant NGOs of the Consultation Meeting co-hosted by AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Turkey), UNIW (The Union of NGOs of The Islamic World) and AKFP (Alkhidmat Foundation, Pakistan), hereby pledge to help the oppressed Rohingya people, towards ending the atrocities perpetrated by the Burmese government, racist and religious elements in the Burmese society.

We, the participants of the Rohingya Consultation Meeting hereby:

Urge the Burmese government to protect the human lives on their soils, whether citizens or otherwise and to accept the right of return of the Rohingya people to Burma.

Urge the Burmese government to allow aid and relief workers to be immediately dispatched to the areas affected by the conflict, to assume their work without fear of violence.

Urge the world community and its international human rights agencies to intervene urgently to protect the lives and properties of the Rohingyas in Burma and elsewhere.

Applaud the Bangladesh and Malaysian governments for providing much needed refuge to the Rohingya refugees and to the Turkish government for financial and humanitarian support.

Appeal to the government of Bangladesh to permit and facilitate humanitarian and relief NGOs to operate in Bangladesh until the crisis is stabilized or solved.

Request all members of the OIC to lobby for the right of return of the Rohingyas on the various international political platforms and actively support and fund the livelihood of the Rohingyas in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Appeal to all international agencies of the UN, relief and humanitarian NGOs to provide humanitarian relief to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, inside the Rakhine State and elsewhere in Burma.

Urge the mainstream and alternative media create awareness of the massacre in Burma and the plight of the Rohingya people as a humanitarian issue and not a religious one.

Urge the educational institutions to undertake awareness campaigns and empower the youth to raise their voices on the Rohingya issue on social media.

Urge all participating NGOs to cooperate, coordinate and synergize their resources to ensure optimal outcomes to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis and continue to raise funds at the national and international level.

Urge all participating NGOs to strengthen their relationship with local NGOs currently working in Bangladesh and Burma.

ICR Members:

The Union of NGOS of the Islamic World (UNIW) – Turkey
Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan (AKFP) – Pakistan
AMAL Foundation – Malaysia
National Doctors Forum (NDF) – Bangladesh
Besir Foundation – Turkey
British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) – England
Cansuyu – Turkey
Charity Australia International (CAI) – Australia
Deniz Feneri – Turkey
Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency Turkey (AFAD) – Turkey
Doctors Worldwide (DWW) – Turkey
Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA) – Turkey
Hayrat Aid – Turkey
Helping Hand for Relief & Development (HHRD) – USA
ICNA Relief Canada (IRC) – Canada
IHH – Turkey
Islamic Aid Bangladesh (IAB) – Bangladesh
Islamic Medical Association Lebanon (IMALB) – Lebanon
Islamic Medical Association Malaysia (IMAM) – Malaysia
Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) – Pakistan
PKPU – Indonesia
Rohingya Federation of Arakan (RFA) – UAE
Serendib Foundation for Relief & Development (SFRD) – Sri Lanka
Small Kindness Bangladesh (SKB) – Bangladesh
Turkish Red Crescent – Turkey
UK Islamic Mission London (UKIM) – England